1
Supporting Information
Continuously Fabricated Transparent Conductive Polycarbonate/Carbon
Nanotube Nanocomposite Film for Switchable Thermochromic Applications
Bing Zhou,1 Yahong Li,1 Guoqiang Zheng,1,* Kui Dai,1 Chuntai Liu,1,*
Yong Ma,2,3 Jiaoxia Zhang,2,4 Ning Wang,5 Changyu Shen,1 and Zhanhu Guo2,*
1College of Materials Science and Engineering, The Key Laboratory of Material
Processing and Mold of Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, China
2Integrated Composites Laboratory (ICL), Department of Chemical & Biomolecular
Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
3College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and
Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
4School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and
Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212003 China
5 State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan
University, Haikou 570228, P.R. China
*: Correspondence authors
Email address: [email protected] (G. Z.)
[email protected] (C. L.)
[email protected] (Z. G.)
Electronic Supplementary Material (ESI) for Journal of Materials Chemistry C.This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018
S-2
Supporting Videos
Video S1: The home-made R2R spraying equipment movement process.
Supporting Figures
carrier solution
carrier air
atomizing nozzle50 m
m .........
... ...
... ..
.. ....
. .. . . .
. . .. . .. ..
.. .. ... ... .. .
.. .. .... .. . .. ..
.. . .
.
. ..... .
. ....
... .. .. .
.
. .. . . ... ..
. hot plate
Fig. S1. Schematic diagram of the spraying process.
Fig. S2. Sheet resistance and transmittance (at 550 nm) versus the number of R2R spraying
cycles for PMxS0.
S-3
Fig. S2 shows the transmittances at 550 nm and sheet resistances of PMxS0 as a function of the
increasing R2R spraying cycles of MWNTs dispersion. Exactly, the sheet resistances and
transmittance are monotonically decreased (i.e., , from 880 k/sq to 19.33 k/sq, and , from SR T
90.0 % to 65.7%) with increasing the spraying cycles of MWNTs dispersion, which indicate that
there is a trade-off between the and . SR T
1 m
(a) (b)
2 cm
Fig. S3. Photograph of PM0S1 (a) and corresponding SEM image (b).
From this photograph Fig. S3, a large number of black spots appear on the surface of PC film.
In other words, SWNT can’t be evenly sprayed on the PC surface. From the corresponding SEM
images, many large carbon nanotube aggregates appear on the surface of the PC film (shown by
arrows in Fig. S3b).
S-4
Fig. S4. Optical transmittance spectra of pure PC and PM1Sy.
Fig. S4 shows the optical transmittance spectra of pure PC and PM1Sy. The optical transmittance
of PC film is approximately 90% in the wavelength range of 400–800 nm. Moreover, within the
spectrum range from 400 to 800 nm, although PM1Sy transparency is found to be gradually reduced
with increasing the number of R2R spraying cycle of SWNTs dispersion. However, reduced
amplitude of transparency is very small.
Fig. S5. Temperature–time curves of PM1S1 at voltages of 60, 80 and 120 V.
Fig. S5 demonstrates the temperature–time curves of PM1S1 at different voltages. On the whole,
when the voltage is supplied to PM1S1, the temperature of PM1S1 increases drastically and reaches
a maximum. It quickly returns to the original room temperature after removal of the voltage.
S-5
Fig. S6. The sandwiched PM1S1/PU/PC composite film.
0 s (320 s)
215 s 152 s 130 s280 s
111 s61 s 102 s
Fig. S7. Snapshots of switchable transparency process of composite film with applied voltage of
120 V.
Fig. S7 shows the opaque-to-transparent transition process of PM1S1/PU/PC composite film
at voltage of 120 V. The composite film is initially opaque (0 s), while it gradually turns transparent
after the voltage is applied (0 s130 s). Then, it gradually returns to opaque state after turning off
the voltage (130 s320 s). The whole process is performed in the air environment.
S-6
46.6 C
Fig. S8. DSC curve of PU film.
8 s 26 s 37 s
42 s64 s101 s127 s
0 s (146 s)
Fig. S9. Snapshots of color-changing process of composite film with applied voltage of 120 V.
Fig. S9 shows the color-changing process of PM1S1/thermochromic ink/PC composite film at
voltage of 120 V. The composite film is initially black (0 s), while it gradually turns from black to
white after the voltage is applied (0 s42 s). Then, it gradually returns to their initial color after
turning off the voltage (42 s146 s). The whole process is performed in the air environment.
S-7
8 s 26 s 37 s
42 s64 s101 s127 s
0 s (146 s)
Fig. S10. Snapshots of color-changing process of composite film with applied voltage of 120 V.
Fig. S10 shows the color-changing process of PM1S1/thermochromic ink/PC composite film
at voltage of 120 V. The composite film is initially red (0 s), while it gradually turns from red to
white after the voltage is applied (0 s42 s). Then, it gradually returns to their initial color after
turning off the voltage (42 s146 s). The whole process is performed in the air environment.